After the Football World Cup and the Olympic Games, the Cricket World Cup is the most watched global sporting event. Surprised? Just remember that cricket is the national sport of India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The game is akin to a religion in these countries!

The 8th Cricket World Cup starts in less than 10 days in the islands of the West Indies (”Antilles” in French). Australia are (once again) the hot favourites to take the title as they did in 2003 and in 1999 before that. People are saying that the home team could surprise a few, and that the Indian team with their talismanic batter (”frappeur” in French) Sachin Tendulkar will be a danger.
But my prediction is that the Australians will win for the 3rd time in a row, beating India in the final. Its difficult seeing anyone beat them in a competitive competition.

I read a great article on the news News 24 site recently which argued how cricket is becoming more and more popular in France. Most French people I speak to about cricket tend to liken it to baseball. But baseball is derived from cricket…cricket was invented in the 13th century!

I suppose you have to be “born into” cricket to really appreciate it. I remember that when I was young (even very young) we always played cricket in the family whenever we could. Sometimes this would involve getting to the beach at 8 in the morning because at this time the tide was out and the pitch was hard: great for a tennis ball.

Anyway, if you’re interested in following the World Cup then the best coverage will be (as always) on BBC Sport.

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